Breeding Turkeys

[Ryan Wiemken]

Is it profitable to breed and sell turkeys? heritage not production type (probably bourbon red or Narraganset) Probably sell poults or eggs. or maybe hatch and raise to sell for market or breeding to others

 

[Better Than Rubies]

Hey there! I don't even have a turkey, so I probably can't answer for sure. . . But, maybe depending on where you live (particularly a country/more rural-setting), with people somewhat close by who would be interested, I'm sure it could be decently profitable!
I've wanted to breed mice before, but my mom said only if I'd sell them for snake food.... I changed my mind, lol! I know that way they'd probably sell faster, though. That's the thing about 'randomly' wanting to breed... You don't know if anyone would be interested or not; unless you possibly ask around instead? I don't know.. Choice is yours. But, whatever you choose, I hope it works out for you.

 

[MontainBourbons]

It's not that profitable. I know from experience. For year-round growing and selling eggs, I hardly break even. I grow bourbon reds and although the prices are decent for eggs and chicks it often hardly covers the cost of feed. Turkeys are just expensive to raise in general. I recommend just growing enough for what you want to eat since after all, they are great tasting birds.

 

[Ryan Wiemken]

It's not that profitable. I know from experience. For year-round growing and selling eggs, I hardly break even. I grow bourbon reds and although the prices are decent for eggs and chicks it often hardly covers the cost of feed. Turkeys are just expensive to raise in general. I recommend just growing enough for what you want to eat since after all, they are great tasting birds.

If you don't mind me asking, what do charge per poult and how many do you sell per year. A breeding trio would eat around 900 pounds a year and I can buy feed in bulk at $8 a bag. That's 18 bags for a total of $144. At $5 a poult, it would take 28-30 poults to break even. Is this a reasonable estimate. I enjoy raising turkeys and want to breed threatened breeds so others can raise them too.

 

[MontainBourbons]

I sell my poults for $8 each but there isn't that much local demand for where I am. If you are thinking about becoming a hatchery there is some money if you have a big enough of a market. I'm only able to sell around 40-50 chicks a year in my area. There are many people in my area that like chickens but aren't too big on turkeys. I recommend finding the demand in your area for chicks.
It is fun to raise and hatch chicks but it usually isn't the biggest moneymaker at least with my situation.

 

[Ryan Wiemken]

I sell my poults for $8 each but there isn't that much local demand for where I am. If you are thinking about becoming a hatchery there is some money if you have a big enough of a market. I'm only able to sell around 40-50 chicks a year in my area. There are many people in my area that like chickens but aren't too big on turkeys. I recommend finding the demand in your area for chicks.
It is fun to raise and hatch chicks but it usually isn't the biggest moneymaker at least with my situation.

I have been thinking about doing a mix of turkeys and chickens and maybe a breeding trio of ducks or geese. I understand local markets vary place to place but is there much of a demand for heritage/dual purpose chickens like barred rocks?

 

[Ryan Wiemken]

I have been thinking about doing a mix of turkeys and chickens and maybe a breeding trio of ducks or geese. I understand local markets vary place to place but is there much of a demand for heritage/dual purpose chickens like barred rocks?

There is a poultry auction about an hour north of my place, stuff can go for $2 or $8 a chicken, just depends. So it I would not have an issue selling surplus, just maybe an issue with prices on my surplus.

 

[MontainBourbons]

Around my area, most people often go for the cheap hardware store chickens. They don't understand the benefits of heritage vs generic breeds. What I recommend to do is go out into your community and ask the people in your area if they'd be interested in rare breeds. This will give you a better idea of what your community would want.